Mohegan Sun Poker Director Bruce Dixon says it was just one of those things, him being at the right place at the right time to discover a life changing opportunity.

He was wandering through one of the Atlantic City casinos shortly after poker came to the casinos there on June 25, 1993. Dixon was about 20 at the time and not a gambler. Neither was anyone in his family, but how could he resist the inviting noise and crowds associated with the big casinos?

"I saw all these people sitting down playing something or other-I didn't know anything about the game then-so I asked one of the supervisors there what it was that was going on."

Told this was the poker room and those were poker players playing poker. "Interesting," Dixon said to himself, as he stood there watching until something clicked. Maybe this was where he should be ... the man in the middle of the action, the man everyone else at the table was looking to.

It looked like fun and there was probably a paycheck in the deal too.

A short time later he contacted one of the dealer schools. His thoughts about possibilities had morphed into action and Dixon found himself sliding into the kind of green felt world he would never have imagined. His first job was at the Taj Mahal and "As a first job, it was interesting, I liked it."

He quickly moved up to a floor position, remaining at the Taj for several years before going on to the Tropicana and then the Borgata before finding himself lured to a big opportunity running poker operations at the Mohegan Sun 15 years after that first dealing job.

"I've been lucky," he grins.

Dixon says poker on the east coast has evolved to the point that it looks pretty much like poker as it is played in the card rooms of Nevada and California, except for procedures such as buying the button and playing over. "Stuff like that is simply not allowed here."

The new room expects to benefit in part from the fact that it offers players another option to the drive to Atlantic City. But it is offering much more than convenience and hospitality.

There will be a month long tournament beginning October 1 with a guaranteed prize pool of $750,000. Check with the poker room to find out about the myriad possibilities for qualifying.

As for other upcoming possibilities, Dixon says he is currently in discussions with groups that could eventually bring televised poker tournaments to Mohegan Sun, but it is too early to talk in any detail about those possibilities.

Hospitality is stressed so often by card rooms everywhere that it has the flavor of a cliché, but with so many card rooms to choose from, it has never been more important. Dixon says it is high on the Mohegan Sun list of things to stress.

"The over-all look and feel of the room, the décor, the comfort level is going to be a lot better than some of our competitors. The location of the monitors has been carefully thought out. We've got chairs that are a step or two above what players will find elsewhere, but I think it is our customer service that is really going to set us apart."

And how will this occur?

Dixon doesn't miss a beat, continuing, "We're going to treat players more like guests in our homes ...not just players."

And the games themselves?

Dixon says the room expects to start on the low limit end of things, with $2-$4 stud and hold 'em as opposed to the $1-$3 that are usually fund elsewhere. He envisions $5-$10, $10-$20 and $50-$100 stud limits on a regular basis. As for hold 'em, Dixon believes there is a good market for $60-$120, $80-$160 and $100-$200 games.

But he quickly adds, speaking several days before the room's debut, that this kind of talk amounts to pre-opening speculation. "The truth is, we're going to be paying close attention to what our customers want to see and we will respond accordingly."

Dixon is responsible for training and evaluating over 300 poker personnel, ensuring proper table security, strategic planning and budget analysis, and implementing Mohegan Sun's poker policies and procedures.

Table Games VP Rocco Santoro said of Dixon, "We're very excited to welcome Bruce to our team. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this position and is sure to be a valuable asset to the Mohegan Sun team.

Prior to his arrival at the Mohegan Sun, Dixon served as poker room manager at Atlantic City's Borgata. There he assisted in the opening and expansion of Borgata's poker room, which is now at 85 tables. Additionally, Dixon held the position as shift manager at the Tropicana in Atlantic City and before that he was a floor supervisor at the Taj Mahal.

Dixon holds an associate's degree in computer information systems from Atlantic Cape Community College of New Jersey. He now lives in Groton, CT, with his wife and two children.

The Mohegan Sun's poker room opened in late August within the resort Casino of the Wind. The games featured there include Omaha, Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud, razz, and pineapple.

Oh yes ... let's not forget the universally popular no-limit hold 'em, enough of it to satisfy all the appetite players may have for it.

Mohegan Sun is currently in the midst of Project Horizon, an expansion plan that includes a 920-room hotel tower featuring 261 House of Blues-themed rooms and an exclusive members-only House of Blues Foundation Room. The expansion also includes additional retail and entertainment space and a new 64,000-square-foot Casino of the Wind. When the work is complete in 2010, Project Horizon will have added 1.4 million square feet to the existing complex.

Mohegan Sun, owned by the Mohegan Tribe, opened in 1992 about 13 miles from the Foxwoods resort. Mohegan Sun is one of the most spectacular entertainment, gaming, shopping, and meeting destinations in the United States. It is situated on 240 acres along the Thames River in scenic southeastern Connecticut and is about 15 minutes from the museums, antique shops and waterfront of Mystic County. The casino is an easy drive from the New York, Boston, Hartford and Providence areas.